The Bentil Group

2020 Air Force Research Lab Summer Faculty Fellowship Program

sbentil News

Dr. Sarah A. Bentil has been selected for the 2020 Air Force Research Lab Summer Faculty Fellowship Program (AFRL SFFP)!

AFRL SFFP is highly competitive, with university faculty from across the nation applying for fellowships to conduct research in the summer at Air Force research facilities. The Air Force selects only a few projects that are interesting to the organization.

Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) sponsors the AFRL SFFP.

The objectives of the program are:

  1. To stimulate professional relationships among U.S. Air Force Research Lab Summer Faculty Fellowship Program participants and the scientists and engineers at Air Force research facilities.
  2. To enhance the research interests and capabilities of faculty (both new and experienced researchers) in the U.S. academic community.
  3. To elevate the awareness in the U.S. academic community of Air Force research needs and foster continued research at U.S. Air Force Research Lab Summer Faculty Fellowship Program fellows’ institutions.
  4. To provide the U.S. Air Force Research Lab Summer Faculty Fellowship Program participant opportunities to perform high-quality and meaningful research at Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Directorates, Air Force Test Center, the United States Air Force Academy, or the Air Force Institute of Technology.
  5. To provide nationally accredited mentoring of academic researchers at technical directorates of the AFRL, Air Force Test Center, the United States Air Force Academy, and the Air Force Institute of Technology.

As part of this program, Dr. Bentil will spend 12 weeks during the summer at Edwards Air Force Base in Edwards, California. She will conduct shock tube experiments and finite element simulations to characterize the mechanical properties of inert solid rocket propellants exposed to shock waves. Her advisor for the AFRL SFFP will be Dr. Timothy C. Miller, from the Aerospace Systems Directorate at the Air Force Research Lab.

(UPDATE – May 2020) Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Bentil conducted her fellowship remotely from Iowa State University.